Wednesday 1 October 2008 19.01 EDT
First published on Wednesday 1 October 2008 19.01 EDT

The war of words between the government and Oxbridge intensified yesterday as the secretary of state for universities, John Denham, accused Oxford's chancellor, Lord Patten, of having "outmoded" views and seeking to preserve the university for a socially elite intake.

Denham hit back at Patten after the former Hong Kong governor made a speech to a conference of private school heads this week in which he suggested that universities were being asked to "make up for the deficiencies of secondary education" by lowering entry standards.

Denham told an audience celebrating the government's Aimhigher scheme to promote university to teenagers from disadvantaged areas: "It is my belief that there is now widespread acceptance across our universities that the current system does not yet capture all the talent that exists in young people across the country. Which is why it is all the more disappointing to hear the comments of critics like Chris Patten who have an outmoded view of the central issues in widening participation.

"The real debate is no longer polarised between those, like him, who believe nothing should ever change, and the noisy critics who claim nothing in the universities has ever changed."

He told the Guardian that Patten was part of the "more means worse brigade", which suggests the expansion of university education has led to lower standards. "That's just wrong. The effect is to protect the interest of those who are there at the moment. It stems from the idea that there isn't a problem with untapped talent in this country.

"I think he is profoundly wrong. This isn't a debate about lowering standards or asking universities to take less able students. It's about the willingness to recognise that there is talent which isn't realised to the fullest extent and it's in universities' interest to find that talent."

Denham insisted that reports of a growing row between himself and Oxbridge were exaggerated but they come after a series of accusations by both the minister and the universities' leadership. Two weeks ago the head of admissions at Oxford warned that there was little more the university could do to encourage students from disadvantaged areas to apply without compromising academic standards because there was a "finite pool" of pupils with the grades they demand.

Denham responded by criticising the university for setting its sights "too low".

Earlier this month the Cambridge vice-chancellor, Alison Richard, argued that universities are not "engines for promoting social justice".

Denham said he "profoundly" disagreed. "Education is the most powerful tool we have in achieving social justice."

Patten was also criticised by the student union of Newcastle University, where he is also chancellor, for his comments calling for an increase in the cap on student fees.

Will Richens, president of the union society, said: "For our chancellor to describe the current fee cap of £3,140 as 'intolerably low' is a deeply concerning matter. Students are currently graduating from university with tens of thousands of pounds of debt, and to lift the cap would have severely detrimental impacts."